Linda Girgis, MD

As doctors, we know the complications the opioid epidemic can cause. We have all seen patients who were seeking drugs, whether we recognized it or not. And I would hazard a good guess that we've all fallen for prescribing controlled substances to a seeker at one point or another in our careers.Doctors and other healthcare providers want to do our best for our patients. When they are in pain, we want to alleviate it. But, we are often conflicted when we are treating a patient in pain because so many tried to scam us in the past and we cannot honestly tell which ones are telling the truth or not.Below are 13 potential red flags that a patient is seeking drugs:

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There are obvious-and not so obvious-signs to look out for when it comes to drug-seeking patients

Author | Linda Girgis, MD

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Is your patient a drug seeker? 13 red flags to watch for